Slim spindle motor and micro-drive apparatus comprising the same

ABSTRACT

A slim spindle motor and a micro-drive apparatus including the slim spindle motor are provided. In the spindle motor, a hub is rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings. The hub is used to seat a disk thereon. A ring-shaped magnet is engaged to the outer boundary of the hub. A stator is formed by arranging a plurality of yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet. The yokes include cores having curved ends to reduce the central axis offset between the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet. Most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores. Since the central axes of the yokes in the stator are made collinear with the central axis of the ring-shaped magnet, the slim spindle motor can operate stably.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-70063, filed on Nov. 12, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a spindle motor and a micro-drive apparatus including the spindle motor, and more particularly, to a spindle motor having a slim stator improved for use in mobile micro-drive apparatuses and a slim micro-drive apparatus comprising the slim spindle motor.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 is a side cross-section of a spindle motor 10 in a conventional IBM micro-drive apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional spindle motor 10 includes a hub 11, a magnet 13, and yokes 15. The hub 11 has ball bearings 17 in the space defined by the hub 11 and is rotatably supported by a base plate 19. The magnet 13 is fastened to the hub 11 to provide a magnetic force. The yokes 15 are arranged around the outer boundary of the magnet 13 and wound with coils and generate turning forces to the spindle motor 10 by interaction between current flowing in the coils and the magnetic force of the magnet 13. The yokes 15 are fixedly installed at the base plate 19.

Currently, most current mobile micro-drive apparatuses have a CompactFlash type I (CF-I) form, which is an existing flash memory standard and provides a thickness of 3.3 mm, and their application range is gradually extending. On the other hand, the conventional IBM micro-drive apparatus of FIG. 1 is excellent in terms of capacity, unit cost per storage capacity, and future competitiveness but adopts a CF-II form which provides a thickness of 5.0 mm because of the difficulties of making slim. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional CF-II IBM micro-drive apparatus has the spindle motor 10 in which the magnet 13 and the yokes 15 are arranged to have the same central axis, thereby maximizing the rotation efficiency of the spindle motor 10. However, such an arrangement is not suitable for the CF-I form having a great demand. In particular, there is not enough space in which to install stator yokes because of the thickness of an actuator installed in the space where the stator yokes are to be located.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a slim spindle motor having an improved stator and a slim micro-drive apparatus using the slim spindle motor.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spindle motor including: a hub seating a disk thereon and rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings; a ring-shaped magnet engaged to the outer boundary of the hub; and a stator formed by arranging a plurality of yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet. The yokes include cores having ends curved to reduce the central axis offset between each of the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet and most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores.

The curved ends are curved either upward or downward so as to be perpendicular to the central axis of the stator.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a spindle motor including: a hub seating a disk thereon and rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings; a ring-shaped magnet engaged to the outer boundary of the hub and having an increased diameter; and a stator formed by arranging a plurality of yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet. The yokes include cores with increased diameters arranged such as to reduce the central axis offset between each of the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet and most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a spindle motor including: a hub seating a disk thereon and rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings; a slim ring-shaped magnet engaged to the outer boundary of the hub; and a stator formed by arranging a plurality of slim yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet. The slim yokes include cores arranged such as to reduce the central axis offset between each of the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet and most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a micro-drive apparatus including a base plate, a spindle motor, and an actuator. The spindle motor includes a hub seating a disk thereon and rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings, a ring-shaped magnet engaged to the outer boundary of the hub, and a stator formed by arranging a plurality of yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet. The yokes include cores having curved ends to reduce the central axis offset between the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet and most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores. The actuator includes a head, which moves over the disk to write/read data to/from the disk, and a suspension positioned at an end of the head.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided another micro-drive apparatus including a base plate, a spindle motor, and an actuator. The spindle motor includes a hub seating a disk thereon and rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings, a ring-shaped magnet engaged to the outer boundary of the hub and having an increased diameter, and a stator formed by arranging a plurality of yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet. The yokes include cores with increased diameters arranged such as to reduce the central axis offset between the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet and most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores. The actuator includes a head, which moves over the disk to write/read data to/from the disk, and a suspension positioned at an end of the head.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided still another micro-drive apparatus including a base plate, a spindle motor, and an actuator. The spindle motor includes a hub seating a disk thereon and rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings, a slim ring-shaped magnet engaged to the outer boundary of the hub, and a stator formed by arranging a plurality of slim yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet. The slim yokes include cores arranged such as to reduce the central axis offset between the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet and most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores. The actuator includes a head, which moves over the disk to write/read data to/from the disk, and a suspension positioned at an end of the head.

The curved ends are curved either upward or downward so as to be perpendicular to the central axis of the stator.

Preferably, the magnet has a thickness of 1 mm or less.

Preferably, the cores have thicknesses of 0.5 mm or less.

Preferably, the number of cores is less than the number of poles of the magnet.

The micro-drive apparatus further includes a damper installed on the hub to firmly clamp the disk to the hub and a screw locked in the hub to fix the damper to the hub.

Due to the use of the improved stator according to the present invention in which a central axis offset between the magnets and the yokes is reduced, a spindle motor is slimmed, and a micro-drive apparatus using the spindle motor are also be slimmed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side cross-section of a spindle motor in a conventional IBM micro-drive apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-section of a slim spindle motor according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a cross-section of a first embodiment of a stator that can be installed in the slim spindle motor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the stator of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section of a second embodiment of a stator that can be installed in the slim spindle motor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing variations in the torque of a slim spindle motor according to an embodiment of the present invention with respect to the angle of the torque;

FIG. 6 is a graph showing variations in an axial electromagnetic force with respect to its angle; and

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a disk drive apparatus in which the slim spindle motor of FIG. 2 is installed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 2, a slim spindle motor 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a hub 31, a ring-shaped magnet 33, and yokes 35. The hub 31 is rotatably fixed to a base plate 39 by ball bearings 37. The circular magnet 33 is fastened to the outer boundary of the hub 31 to provide a magnetic force. The yokes 35 are arranged in a round shape along the outer boundary of the magnet 33.

The magnet 33 functions as a rotor, and the yokes 35 function as a stator. The yokes 35 are wound with coils and generate electromagnetic forces that interact with the magnetic force of the magnet 33 so as to rotate the spindle motor 30 in a predetermined direction, which depends on the direction of current received from a flexible printed circuit (FPC; not shown). A screw 38 is locked in the central axis of the hub 31 to fix a damper (not shown), which seat a disk and fix the seated disk.

The spindle motor 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the circular magnet 33 smaller than the magnet 13 of the conventional spindle motor 10 of FIG. 1 and the yokes 35 installed along the outer boundary of the magnet 33, thereby simply achieving slimming of a micro-drive apparatus. The yokes 35 are fixed onto the base plate 39 and rotate the spindle motor 30 by rotating the hub 31 to which the magnet 33 is fastened using an electromagnetic force. Making the central axes of the magnet 33 and each of the yokes 35 collinear can maximize a torque created by the electromagnetic force generated by interaction between the magnetic field of the magnet 33 and the electric field created by current flowing in coils 34 wound around the yokes 35 and can remove a force in an unnecessary Z-axis direction, that is, in the direction of the height of a drive apparatus.

If an offset between the central axes of the magnet 33 and each of the yokes. 35 occurs, a force in the Z-axis direction is generated, which causes unstable operation (e.g., vibration) of the spindle motor 30. If the spindle motor 30 operates unstably, a seated disk (not shown) does not rotate in a round shape but in a distorted round shape. Hence, a head may be positioned on a wrong track, which is referred to as runout. If such runout occurs, it is difficult to record data to an accurate area on a disk, and recorded data cannot be properly read.

Hence, the spindle motor 30 of FIG. 2 includes a first embodiment of a stator whose central axes offset is removed, though the magnet 33 and the yoke 35 become slimmer. However, since there is a limit in slimming the magnet 33 and the reduction of the thickness of the magnet 33 reduces the amount of generated magnetic force, the magnet 33 having a high magnetic flux must be employed. To overcome this limit, first and second embodiments of a stator that can have the magnet 33 whose thickness is not slimmed are shown in FIGS. 3A and 4.

FIGS. 3A and 4 show first and second embodiments of a stator that can be installed in the slim spindle motor of FIG. 2. FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the stator of FIG. 3A.

In the first embodiment of the stator of FIGS. 3A and 3B, yokes 35 a have ends 34 a curved upwardly such that the central axes of the yokes 35 a are collinear with that of a magnet 33 a and are arranged around the outer boundary of the magnet 33 a. The yokes 35 a are each comprised of a core 34 a and a coil 36 a which covers the core 34 a. The magnet 33 a is engaged to the hub 31, and the yokes 35 a are fixed onto the base plate 39. If the magnet 33 a is installed at a location lower than the yokes 35 a, the yokes 35 a may have downwardly curved ends instead of the upwardly curved ends 34 a so as to make the central axis of each of the cores 34 a collinear with that of the magnet 33 a.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the ring-shaped magnet 33 a is comprised of 12 poles, and 9 yokes 35 a are arranged in a round shape around the outer boundary of the magnet 33 a. A stator 32 is comprised of the yokes 35 a symmetrically arranged around the outer boundary of the magnet 33 a and an outer ring which supports the yokes 35 a. As described above, the yokes 35 a are each comprised of the core 34 a and the coil 36 a wound around the core 34 a. However, the cores 34 a of some of the yokes 35 a are not wound with a coil. In FIG. 3B, two adjacent cores 34 a are wound with coils 36 a, and the cores 34 a on both sides of the pair of cores 34 a wound with the coils 36 a are not wound with coils. In this way, the yokes 35 a are arranged.

In the second embodiment of the stator of FIG. 4, the hub 31 is installed at a high location and the diameter of the magnet 33 b is increased, thereby obtaining sufficient outer space. The yokes 35 b are positioned in the obtained space at a higher location than the location where the yokes 35 a in the first embodiment are positioned, such that the central axis of each of the yokes 35 b is made collinear with that of the magnet 33 b. However, since the stator according to the second embodiment needs a space in which to install the yokes 35 b, the locations of other component elements must be adjusted.

Hence, a spindle motor adopting the stator according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is suitable for use in conventional CF-I disk drives.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing variations in the torque of a slim spindle motor according to an embodiment of the present invention with respect to the angle of the torque. Reference numeral f1 indicates an ideal case where an offset is 0, reference numeral f2 indicates a case where an offset is 0.2 mm, reference numeral f3 indicates a case where an offset has been removed by curving an end of a yoke upward by 0.2 mm, and reference numeral f4 indicates a case where an offset is reduced from 0.12 mm to 0.08 mm by curving the end of the yoke upward by 0.2 mm.

Referring to FIG. 5, cases f1, f3, and f4 have similar torque variations, while the torque of case f2 is reduced from those of the other three cases. Such a reduction in torque denotes a reduction in the turning force of a spindle motor, and then if the turning force is reduced, the spindle motor operates unstably. Unstable operation of the spindle motor causes a disk seated on the spindle motor to rotate irregularly, making it difficult to accurately write data to an area on the disk and accurately read data. Thus, a spindle motor according to the present invention can have a stable torque characteristic by adopting a structure in which an offset between the central axes of a magnet and a yoke is reduced or removed.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing variations in an axial electromagnetic force with respect to its angle. Referring to FIG. 6, reference numeral g1 indicates a force in a Z-axial direction, Fz, that represents 0 in an ideal case where an offset is zero. Reference numeral g2 indicates Fz of about 0.2 N in the case f2 of FIG. 4, and reference numeral g4 indicates Fz of about 0.14 N in the case f4 of FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 6, a Z-axial offset generates the Z-axial force (Fz), and Fz increases as the Z-axial offset increases. As described above, as Fz increases, the rotation of the spindle motor becomes unstable.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a disk drive apparatus 40 in which the slim spindle motor of FIG. 2 is installed. The disk drive apparatus 40 includes a disk 50 which stores information, a locking area 52 on which the disk 50 is seated, the spindle motor 30 which rotates the seated disk 50, an actuator 43 having a head 47 capable of recording/reproducing data to/from the disk 50, and a voice coil motor (not shown) comprised of a magnet assembly 46 and a voice coil 45 which drives the actuator 43.

The spindle motor 30 of FIG. 2 is positioned under the locking area 52. A stator installed in the spindle motor 30 can be any of the stators shown in FIGS. 2 through 4. Preferably, an offset is removed by making the central axis of the magnet 33, 33 a, or 33 b collinear with that of the yoke 35, 35 a, or 35 b, respectively, so that a force in the Z-axial direction is removed.

The actuator 43 receives an electrical signal from a printed circuit board (PCB; not shown) via a flexible printed circuit (FPC; not shown).

The disk 50 is comprised of a parking zone minutely formed by laser at the inner area of the disk 50 and is fitted onto the spindle motor 30 so that the head 47 can be parked in the parking zone upon power-off. A data zone can be formed at the outside of the parking zone to record a magnetic signal on the data zone. The data zone has several tens of thousands of tracks on which a servo signal indicating locations where data is to be recorded has already been recorded along the circular shape of the disk 50.

The actuator 43 includes the voice coil motor (not shown) which drives the actuator 43, a pivot bearing 48 around which the actuator 43 rotates, and the head 47 which has a write head to write data to the disk 50 and a read head to read data from the disk 50. In particular, the actuator 43 is made very slim by attaching the voice coil 45 to a fantail molding portion, which is formed by extending a uni-mounting portion of a head gimbal assembly 41.

The PCB sends an electrical signal to the FPC, and the FPC transmits the received electrical signal to the actuator 43. The electrical signal received by the actuator 43 is transmitted to the voice coil 45. An electromagnetic force created by interaction between current flowing in the voice coil 45 and the magnetic force of the magnet assembly 46 rotates the actuator 43 around the pivot bearing 48 to move the actuator 43 from the parking zone to the data zone.

The present invention provides a stator whose central axes offsets between the magnet and yokes are reduced or removed, thereby obtaining a slim spindle motor and a slim micro-drive apparatus.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. For example, various stators in which the central axes of yokes are collinear with that of a magnet may be construed.

As described above, the use of a stator in which the central axes of yokes are collinear with that of a magnet makes it possible to manufacture a slimmer and lighter spindle motor and a slimmer and lighter micro-drive apparatus that can maintain a stable driving performance and also be utilized as a mobile micro-drive apparatus. 

1-6. (canceled)
 7. A spindle motor comprising: a hub seating a disk thereon and rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings; a ring-shaped magnet engaged to the outer boundary of the hub and having an increased diameter; and a stator formed by arranging a plurality of yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet, wherein the yokes include cores with increased diameters arranged such as to reduced the central axis offset between the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet and most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores.
 8. The spindle motor of claim 7, wherein the magnet has a thickness of 1 mm or less.
 9. The spindle motor of claim 7, wherein the cores have thickness of 0.5 mm or less.
 10. The spindle motor of claim 7, wherein the number of cores is less than the number of poles of the magnet.
 11. The spindle motor of claim 7, further comprising: a damper installed on the hub to firmly clamp the disk to the hub; and a screw locked in the hub to fix the damper to the hub. 12-22. (canceled)
 23. A micro-drive apparatus comprising: a base plate; a spindle motor including a hub seating a disk thereon and rotatably mounted on a base plate by ball bearings, a ring-shaped magnet engaged to the outer boundary of the hub and having an increased diameter, and a stator formed by arranging a plurality of yokes in a round shape around the outer boundary of the ring-shaped magnet, wherein the yokes include cores with increased diameters arranged such as to reduce the central axis offset between the yokes and the ring-shaped magnet and most of the yokes include coils that cover the cores; and an actuator including a head, which moves over the disk to write/read data to/from the disk, and a suspension positioned at an end of the head.
 24. The micro-drive apparatus of claim 23, wherein the magnet has a thickness of 1 mm or less.
 25. The micro-drive apparatus of claim 23, wherein the cores have thickness of 0.5 mm or less.
 26. The micro-drive apparatus of claim 23, wherein the number of cores is less than the number of poles of the magnet.
 27. The micro-drive apparatus of claim 23, further comprising: a damper installed on the hub to firmly claim the disk to the hub; and a screw locked in the hub to fix the damper to the hub. 28-32. (canceled) 